Participants at an event to plant olive trees in Palestinian regions at risk of being transformed into settlements were attacked by the Israeli forces on Monday.
Fatah deputy chief Mahmoud al-Aloul was among the participants at the event at Jabal al-Jomjoma in Hebron.
The participants shouted slogans against Israeli occupation and its settlement policy, urging the international community and the world to assume responsibility in protecting the Palestinian people and their properties.
Aloul stressed that Jabal al-Jomjoma will remain Palestinian territory regardless how hard Israel attempts to seize it.
“Threatening to shoot us with live bullets did not deter us from planting the olive trees,” he declared.
Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas at the participants, while several armed settlers also gathered at the scene.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yousef stated that Israel “will fail to impose a certain status quo no matter how hard it tries.”
The international community should bear its responsibility through holding Israel accountable for its crimes, he demanded.
Chairman of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission Walid Assaf said the tree-planting even was part of efforts to protect the whole of Palestine.
He slammed the Israeli forces for confronting the unarmed participants, accusing them of protecting the “criminal settlers in a move that will only lead to more tensions.”
